Hassan Whiteside has been a pleasant surprise for the Miami Heat, essentially becoming the back bone of their interior defense. His game has matured a lot, his attitude, on the other hand, hasn’t.
Whiteside has had two random outbursts this year, one in a physical altercation with Phoenix Suns Alex Len. Another altercation was with Kelly Olynyk of the Boston Celtics. Both situations left him ejected, and fined and suspended for one game. This doesn’t help a team that is trying to make the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference and needs to win games. Whiteside understands that.
Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post reported the issues first:
“I just had a lot going on in my personal life. I don’t really want to speak on it. It won’t happen AGAIN.”
“I’ll just try to walk away. Retaliating is not the answer in this league. I just kinda hope my coaches and my teammates and the ref can keep me safe. Retaliating and trying to get back at people is not the answer.”
The thing with young players, entering the NBA, the most important part is the learning phase that goes with playing in the NBA. Whiteside is going through that, and obviously doesn’t want to jeopardize his career
. Whiteside will return from his suspension tonight against the Toronto Raptors.
